First winner for Anton Pillar

Queensland sire Anton Pillar has been represented by his first winner in South Australia.

It was a long time coming for the Valentine Park stallion.  His gelding Outlaw took 28 starts to break through in the Port Augusta Bus Service Maiden (1396m) on Sunday.

Outlaw (4g Anton Pillar – Kiwi Player by Vettori) is raced by local owner-trainer Helen Gower and had been placed 10 times before Jason Potter got him over the line at Port Augusta.

anton pillarAnton Pillar (pictured) is a brother to G1 Golden Slipper Stakes winner Forensics and is based at Valentine Park in Beaudesert alongside Felix The Cat (Storm Cat).

Raced by Sean Buckley in the same colours as Australian Horse of the Year Miss Andretti, he won at Cheltenham but was hampered by leg and rump injuries after he ran into a fence as a youngster.

“He was raised by a foster mum, but hurt himself early on,” Buckley recalled.  “He had an abscess in his rump and wasn’t put through the sales because of muscle wastage.  One side of his body is actually bigger than the other.”

Before his move to Queensland, Anton Pillar (Flying Spur) served two books at Rivers End Stud near the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia.  By then, the property was well past its glory days, first as Paumah Stud with Florian & Marta Stumpf and as Lakewood Stud with Peter & Pauline Liston.

For further information on Anton Pillar, contact his owner Peter Manzo (0478 926 476) or Valentine Park’s Belinda Little (0400 842 632).